I'm currently working in a tiny village in the Eastern Cape when the owner of the accommodation I am staying in mentioned that he made radiators for Cobra's and GT40's and offered to show me around his factory.

It passed through my mind "how can anyone with a factory 200 km from anywhere make a living" but I'm always game to learn something so on Sunday evening did the tour - I was totally gobsmacked at what they are doing in this little village.

Turns out he is a mechanical engineer specialising in thermodynamics and designs and manufactures, in house, radiator manufacturing lines for world wide sale to the major car manufacturers.

Apparantly to furnace braise aluminium radiators you need to work to tolerances of .005 mm and and everything from the end plates to the manufacture of fins in his assembly lines and their attachment to the tubes is done to that accuracy. Holes in the end plates and many other parts of the manufacturing machines cannot be milled but are cut using special wire cutters (don't ask me how they work but work they do). He has a large factory filled with large cad/cam machines, mills with 2,5 m square beds etc etc.

I don't think I will ever look at a radiator in the same way again.

Turns out that the small volume manufacture of radiators for specialised cars is his "hobby"

This is their web site:

http://pjengineering.co.za/index.html

So can he do one for a crossflow engined locost for 20 quid, posted of course?

I'm 100% sure he couldn't

I think his "wire cutters" are the EDM machines mentioned on his WEB.

As I understand, they are Spark errosion techology.
some use solids for erode the work, and wire is use to cut simular to a water jet cutter.

Just google EDM. Very neat bits of kit. Would love to add on to my small range of tools